Rejigging federal ridings will boost the Commons from 308 to 338 MPs. Eleven of the newcomers will be from the GTA.

In the proposed rejig of riding boundaries for the province, Toronto and its suburbs are set to get almost a dozen new seats.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario posted the proposed boundary changes on its website on Monday. They include 15 new seats resulting from legislation passed in 2011 that expanded the size of the House of Commons.

Ontario’s share will shoot up to 121 seats from 106.

Of the 15 new proposed ridings across the province, Peel and York regions will each get three new additional ridings, Toronto and Durham Region two (within the GTA), and Halton one.

That the Toronto area gets a huge share isn’t surprising, said Matthew Mendelsohn, director of the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto

There’s been an extraordinary population boom in the suburbs, he pointed out. “And this will help achieve voter equality. Those (where changes are proposed) are, by far, the most populous ridings,” he said.

The six largest ridings in Canada, with populations of 150,000-170,000, are all in Toronto’s suburbs: Brampton West, Oak Ridges-Markham, Vaughan, Bramalea-Gore-Malton, Halton, and Mississauga-Erindale.

Brampton, for instance, has a population of more than half a million but only three electoral districts. Two new ridings should be carved out there, the commission has said.

The commission’s aim in redrawing boundaries is to divide the province into electoral districts as close to the average population as reasonably possible, said Justice George Valin, of the commission.

But Mendelsohn said that at first look, Ontario’s proposed map isn’t as close to voter equality as in B.C., Alberta or Quebec. “They have moved closer…but not nearly as close as other provinces have.”

The other question is whether the rejigging presents an advantage to one political party.

Robert Drummond, professor emeritus with the department of political science at York University, said the contest has been between the Liberals and the Conservatives in the past few years.

“Those two parties, not the NDP, stand to gain from the proposed changes,” he said, adding, “that’s for now… I don’t know what it could in the future.”

But Mendelsohn isn’t sure if any one party will benefit in the suburban regions.

“Suburban, multicultural Canada isn’t loyal to anyone,” he said. “But having more seats in the GTA should make parties pay more interest to people and their issues.”

Meanwhile, voters in ridings where the boundaries will probably change reacted guardedly to the proposals.

Bill Beecroft said the condo boom was rapidly increasing his riding’s population.

“I don’t think there’s any other area in Toronto that has so many condos going up,” he said, adding if “there are twice as many people in your riding, of course double the representation makes sense.”

The 59-year-old lives on Church St. in the proposed Mount Pleasant riding, which would be bordered roughly by Wellesley St., Bayview Ave., Eglinton Ave. E. and Avenue Rd.

Mount Pleasant will be a combination of an eastern section of St. Paul’s and a northern part of Toronto Centre.

The constitution requires electoral districts to be redrawn every decade to reflect changes and movements in population. Based on the 2011 census, the House will expand from 308 to 338 seats.

Other provinces that get new seats are British Columbia and Alberta, which each receive six new seats, and Quebec, which receives three.

These changes will be in place for the 2015 federal elections.

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DUE FOR A CHANGE

A look at five significant ridings (highlighted on the map) and how they’re changing.

Mount Pleasant: The Toronto Centre and Don Valley West ridings have seen significant population increases, thanks in part to the condominium boom. The new riding of Mount Pleasant will be made up of part of the current St. Paul’s riding east of Oriole Pkwy. and Avenue Rd., plus part of the current riding of Toronto Centre, north of the boundary formed by Wellesley St. to Sherbourne St. and Rosedale Valley Rd., plus part of the current riding of Don Valley West lying west of Bayview Ave.

It will have a population of 99,695 and is 6.14 per cent below the provincial quota (meaning it will be slightly overrepresented at the outset). It is one of two new ridings in Toronto; the other is Toronto North.

Brampton West: One of the largest constituencies in Canada, with a large South Asian immigrant population. The commission is proposing the new Brampton West riding be made up of part of current electoral district north of Bovaird Dr. W. and the rail line to Main St. N., plus part of the current electoral district of Brampton-Springdale west of Kennedy Rd. N. and north of Bovaird Dr. E.

It will have a population of 115,391, 8.64 per cent above the provincial quota (meaning it will be somewhat underrepresented). Two new ridings in Brampton will also be created: Brampton South and Brampton North.

Oak Ridges: The riding of Oak Ridges-Markham, with a population of 228,997, is grossly underrepresented at 115.6 per cent above the provincial quota. The proposal is to rename the stub of it that will remain Oak Ridges. It will be made up of the Township of King, south of Davis Dr. W. (Hwy. 9), and part of the City of Vaughan north of Major Mackenzie Dr. W. to Hwy. 400, and north of Rutherford Rd. between Hwy. 400 and Bathurst St.

Its population of about 109,235 will be less than 3 per cent above the provincial quota. A total of three new ridings will be added to York Region in total.

Mississauga Centre: The current riding of Mississauga-Erindale is one of the largest in the country. The commission is proposing a new riding of Mississauga Centre, made up of parts of the current ridings Mississauga-Erindale, Mississauga East-Cooksville and Mississauga-Brampton South. It will be bounded by Eglinton Ave. W. on the north, Hurontario St. on the east, Queensway and the Credit River on the south and Mississauga Rd. on the west.

The only new electoral district in Mississauga, it will have a population of 116,619 and will be 9.8 per cent above the provincial quota.

Oshawa-Durham: Durham Region has also seen significant population growth, warranting two new electoral districts within the portion of it that is in the GTA. One of these proposed districts is Oshawa-Durham, which will be made up of part of the City of Oshawa north of King St., part of Clarington north of Nash Rd., extended east to Concession 3 Rd., limited to the east by Regional Rd. 42 and Darlington-Clarke Townline Rd.

With a population of 110,247, it will be 3.80 per cent above the provincial quota. The other new Durham riding within the GTA is Pickering-Brooklin.

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